Decoding the letter U
The letter U (lowercase u''', pronounced as most vowel letters in English, had initially four main pronunciations; however in Received Pronunciation they are currently eight and in General American there are seven. *So-called “short u”, IPA phoneme /ʌ/, as in strut, run, running or hurry *So-called “long u”, with two possibilities :IPA phonetic sequence /juː/, as in cute, student, assume, or assuming :IPA phoneme /uː/, as in rule, ruling, conclusion or flu *Long "ur" monophthong (short vowel spelling), IPA phoneme /ɜː/, as in nurse, fur, furry or hurry *Long vowel "ur" spelling, with two possibilities and several sounds :With /j/ ::Traditional pronunciation, as in cure, curious or fury: IPA phonetic sequences /jʊə/ or /jʊ/ ::Newer pronunciations: IPA sequences /jɔː/ (cure) or /jɜː/ (cure, curious) :Without /j/ ::Traditional pronunciation, as in sure, tourist: IPA phoneme /ʊə/ or /ʊ/ ::Newer pronunciation IPA phoneme /ɔː/ (sure, tourist) or /ɜː/ (sure) U also can be pronounced /ʊ/ as in full and /w/ as in quit, plus other, less common pronunciations, sometimes in combination with other letters, and, of course, it can be used as schwa. There are some helpful rules (to be taken with the habitual pinch of salt). It is also very much one of those cases in which teachers, whichever their preferences might be, need to point out the differences between RP (/juː/') and American ('/uː/) pronunciations regarding, particularly with words like due or nude. This is also explained at "Yod dropping"" in the IPA phonetic sequence /juː/ article. As /juː/ or /uː/ See main articles IPA phoneme /uː/ and IPA phonetic sequence /juː/. The letter U can represent the sounds /juː/ or /uː/ depending on the previous consonant. Always /juː/ Initially and after /b, f, g, h, k, m, p/ and /v/ the letter U sounds /juː/ *Initially /juː/: unit - unite - university Exception :as /uː/: recuperate Depending on the accent After /d, n, s, t, θ/ and /z/ U sounds /juː/ in Received Pronunciation and /uː/ in General American Exceptions :Always /juː/: annual - manual - menu Always /uː/ After /dʒ, l, r, ʃ/ and /tʃ/ U represents /uː/. Exceptions: :/juː/: volume As /ʊ/ See main article ''IPA phoneme /ʊ/. *"u" + final consonant: put; *"u" + two consonants: bull - bullet - bush - cushion - full - pull - push As /ʌ/ See main article IPA phoneme /ʌ/. *"u" + final consonants: bun - but - cup - discuss - fun - just - lunch - much - run - sun - up *"u" + double consonant: butter - funny - runny - suffer - summer - sunny - tummy *"u" + two consonants: hungry - judge - number - public - trumpet - uncle - under *"u" + single consonant: study :*The prefix "un": unable - unemployed - uninvited - unusual As /w/ See main article IPA phoneme /w/. * with "g": anguish - bilingual - distinguish - guacamole - Guatemala - iguana - language - linguistics - Nicaragua /ˌnɪkəˈrɑːgwə, ˌnɪkəˈræɡjʊə / - Paraguay - penguin - Uruguay * with "q": acquire - consequence - equal - equipment - quality - quarter - question - quick - quickly - quiet - quite - quote - request - require - requirement * with "s": dissuade - persuade - suite As schwa See main article Schwa. *as "-ure": figure  /ˈfɪɡər/, /ˈfɪɡjər/ *as "-ture": adventure - creature - feature - future - nature - picture - structure - temperature *others: min'u'''scule - mollusc /mollusk - opossum - Saturday - supply - support - virus Silent U *Antigua /ænˈtiːɡə/ - buoy - guarantee - guard - guardian - guess - guest - guide - Guinea /ˈgɪnɪ/ - Guinnes /ˈgɪnɪs/ - guilty - guitar - mosquito See also "Silent ue" and "ui as /ɪ/" below. Others * As /ɪ/: business - busy - lettuce - minute ''(n. 1/60 of an hour) Combined with vowels As "ue" * As /uː/: blue - issue - tissue - sue - true * As /juː/: argue - continue - due - revenue - Tuesday - value Silent "ue" *antique - cheque - colleague - conquer - intrigue - league - synagogue - technique - tongue - unique Ending in "logue": * analogue - catalogue - dialogue - epilogue - monologue - prologue :In American English the following spellings are also used: :* analog - catalog - dialog - epilog - monolog - prolog With magic e: *fugue - plague - vogue As "ui" See main article Decoding exercises: "ui". * as '''/uː/: bruise - cruise - fruit - juice - lawsuit - suit - suitable - suitcase; * as /ɪ/: biscuit - build - built - circuit; Combined with "r" See also as schwa above. As /ɜː/ See main article /ɜː/. *blur - burn - curb - curl - curling - curly - furniture - hurt - surgeon - Thursday - turn - urban - urgent As /ʌ, ɜː / *currency - current - hurry As /jʊə/ *cure - pure - secure As /ʊə/ *mature As /ʊə/ or /ɔː/ *assure - ensure - insure - sure"sure", Collins English Dictionary As / / *bury Homophones See main article Homophone. *blue - blew; bury - berry; flu - flew; sun - son Heteronyms See main article Heteronym. *minute: n. 1/60 of an hour /ˈmɪnɪt/, adj. very small /maɪˈnjuːt/ Anticipated pronunciation difficulties depending on L1 Spanish See Pronunciation exercises: /uː/ vs /ʊ/ § Spanish References See also *Decoding exercises: "au" *Decoding exercises: "eu" *Decoding exercises: "ou" *Decoding exercises: "ur" *Decoding exercises: "urr" *Decoding exercises: "urV" and "urrV" *Pronunciation exercises: /ʌ/ vs /æ/ *Pronunciation exercises: /uː/ vs /ʊ/ External links u u